It’s gold for St Ives and Huntingdon at Anglia In Bloom awards

Some of the displays in The Waits, in St Ives. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

The annual ceremony celebrates the floral flourishes of towns and villages across East Anglia, with a range of categories for entrants.

This year, St Ives picked up a gold award in the large town category, with particular praise for planting at the bus station and the park and ride.

The town’s riverfront displays and the Norris Museum were also commended; Holt Island was nominated for the Best Conservation Project; and Gerald Brunning’s winning allotment in the St Ives in Bloom competition was nominated for the Grow Your Own Award. The attractive frontage and garden of the Swan and Angel pub, meanwhile, won the best restaurant category.

In Huntingdon, meanwhile, there was also a gold in the large town category, and a silver award for Moor (Oxmoor) in the urban community category.

Huntingdon in Bloom. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

The award ceremony took place at the Apex Theatre, in Bury St Edmunds, on Wednesday (September 12).

Bob Ollier, chairman of Anglia in Bloom, said: “The Anglia in Bloom communities across the six counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk & Suffolk should be justifiably proud of this year’s achievements.

“This year, standards have continued on from last year with excellent awards achieved, the outstanding community work, many resourceful projects and superb floriferous displays have all added to fantastic community entries with 57 gold, 13 silver gilt, six silver, three bronze awarded.

“The continued key to the Anglia regions success has been the very strong community involvement where everyone is getting involved and works closely together, enabling great projects to be created and delivered.”

Huntingdon in Bloom chairman and deputy town clerk Natasha Pierson with town clerk Philip Peacock (Image: Archant)